The present invention relates to electronic air cleaners and is particularly concerned with providing an improved housing for an electronic air cleaner.
Electronic air cleaners are used in air-conditioning systems for cleaning the air passing through the system before it enters a room or space requiring conditioned air. Electronic air cleaners generally comprise a unit containing a number of oppositely charged collecting plates and a series of electrically heated wires. As air is drawn through the unit passed the heated wires, small airborne particles of pollutants require an electrical charge, and the charged particles are then attracted to the charged collecting plates. The types of pollutant collected to the plates may include small particles of dirt, dust, smoke pollen, bacteria and grease. An electronic air cleaner may also include a pre-filter or screen which captures larger particles of pollutants before they enter the electrostatic unit.
Electronic air cleaners are usually discrete units which may be installed in the ducts of an air-conditioning system. More often, however, the discrete electronic air cleaner units are permanently secured to the front of an air handling unit which includes heat exchangers in the form of evaporator and/or condenser coils for heating and/or cooling the air as it passes through the air handling unit. Electronic air cleaners are generally manufactured in only a limited range of sizes. Often it is necessary to secure to an air handling unit a larger electronic air cleaner than is necessary for the unit. Further, factory made electronic air cleaners can be of a bulky construction as the space in rooms containing air handling units is often restricted. Such electronic air cleaners can take up a large amount of the restricted space within an air-conditioning room. Further, electronic air cleaning units permanently secured to an air handling unit can make it difficult to access the interior of the air handling unit for maintenance or service of the heat exchangers and other parts of the air handling unit.
It is therefore desirable to provide an electronic air cleaner assembly for attachment to an air handling unit and which allows ready access to the heat exchangers of the air handling unit.
It is also desirable to provide an electronic air cleaner housing of a simple and relatively inexpensive construction which can be manufactured in various sizes for different types of air handling units.
It is further desirable to provide an electronic air cleaner assembly in which electrostatic filter parts of the assembly can be readily removed for cleaning maintenance or replacement.
According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided an electronic air cleaner housing for attachment to an air handling unit of an air-conditioning system, wherein the housing is adapted to contain a plurality of electrostatic filter cells, and the housing includes means for detachably mounting the housing to a face of an air handling unit, wherein the housing is at least partly detachable from the air handling unit to allow access to the interior of the air handling unit.
Preferably, one side of the electronic air cleaner housing is adapted to be pivotally mounted to one side of the air handling unit, and an opposite side of the housing is connectable to the opposite side of the air handling unit by releasable attachment means. At least one hinge means is preferably provided for pivotally mounting said one side of the housing to the air handling unit. The releasable attachment means preferably comprises at least one locking member mounted on said opposite side of the housing for engagement with a complementary locking member mounted on the air handling unit.
When the electronic air cleaner housing is pivotally mounted on an air handling unit, the housing can be opened like a door from a closed position in which it is securely retained on the face of the air handling unit by the releasable attachment means and an open position in which the opposite side of the housing is detached from the air handling unit to allow access to the interior of the air handling unit. In one preferred embodiment, at least one roller means, such as a wheel or roller, is mounted on a lower wall of the housing to assist in moving the housing between its closed and opened positions.
In accordance with another advantageous feature of the present invention, the housing has opposed side walls, an upper wall and a lower wall, the housing defining at least one compartment for receiving a plurality of removable electrostatic filter cells. Preferably, the housing has at least one partition defining a plurality of compartments within the housing for receiving the removable electrostatic filter cells.
According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided an electronic air cleaner housing having first and second side walls, an upper wall and a lower wall defining at least one compartment for containing a plurality of electrostatic filter cells, the housing being so constructed and arranged as to allow removal of the electrostatic filter cells after mounting in the at least one compartment. In one preferred embodiment, the housing has open front and/or rear faces such that electrostatic filter cells mounted in the at least one compartment are removable from the front or rear of the housing.
Preferably, the housing has at least one horizontally extending partition defining upper and lower compartments for receiving upper and lower rows of removable electrostatic filter cells.
The compartments of the housing preferably have spring-loaded retaining means for retaining the electrostatic filter cells in the compartments. The spring-loaded retaining means are preferably provided on members mounted to the at least one horizontally extending partition and to the upper and/or lower wall of the housing.
The electrostatic air cleaner housing may also include water drainage channels for draining away water used in washing the electrostatic filter cells. Preferably, the water drainage channels are provided on the lower wall of the housing and on the upper surface of the at least one horizontally extending partition. In this case, the power supply units for the electrostatic filter cells are preferably separate units which can be housed in a wall panel in the air-conditioning room containing the air handling units together with the control panel of a building management system for the air-conditioning system.
In another preferred embodiment, at least one of the walls of the housing can be opened to allow insertion or removal of the electrostatic filter cells from the side of the housing or from above or below the housing.
In accordance with a further aspect of the invention, there is provided an electrostatic air cleaner assembly comprising a housing in accordance with any one of the previously described aspects of the invention and a plurality of removable electrostatic filter cells mounted in the housing.